YOUR LIFE = EXPERIENTIAL EXPEDITION

01-December-2017

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR

We sense, we sight, we smell, we touch, we hear, we taste, and so on — and, yet, we don’t always bestow our mind’s eye, or ‘I,’ for such subtleties. This credo holds good for our feelings, or emotions — our fundamental constituent that makes us what we are. The paradox also is that we are not ad infinitum in sync with our natural emotions as we are with our basic senses. To cull a prominent example, the flavour, or taste, of food, for the most part, is subject to endless discussion. Not so much our emotions. Nobody engages in a long, verbal exposition of someone’s emotions, as much as their attitude, or idiosyncrasies. The end result is obvious — we are more than inclined to wedge our natural emotions. This, in turn, leads to a sense of denial, or suppression, of our own feelings.

You’d have, perhaps, guessed it right — that it is only when we accommodate our feelings and express them that we tend to climb to the next level, if not the highest level. This also bids fair to our greatest moments of emotional release — not the mere purging of accumulated, unwanted, or unpleasant emotions that reside deep within. This isn’t rocket science — it is the simplest of the sciences and also arts. It calls for the seamless acceptance, or understanding, of what we are feeling, at a given point, or when someone we love, or know, is feeling low, or disheartened. The best part is — such a simple embodiment of empathy often leads to a harmonious state of balance, primarily because we did not take sides with ourselves, or others — but, played a good part in easing someone’s distress, more or less effortlessly. This is no miracle. It ushered in palpable, tangible relief for someone ‘under the weather,’ because you were compassionate and objective.

Most of us often relate to our basic emotions as excess stash — one that triggers a sense of alarm, or trepidation, simply because someone is ‘watching us closely.’ This is an erroneous, if not stilted, belief. The best thing one could do is keep a close, unbiased watch on one’s emotional intensity — more so, if one is a high-strung, or restless, nervous type. The reason is simple. Anyone who is restive, or edgy, would feel terrified when others don’t ‘emote’ the feelings like they, perforce, do. The identical principle applies to people who emote feelings all too easily, when they find, or confront, someone who is rather ‘cold’ or ‘guarded.’ The world is full of either type — hence, the big question. Is there a middle Zen path, or a pragmatic way out of such frames of reference?

Yes, there is, provided we grasp at our empathetic straws and float on thoughtful gossamers. When we follow such a simple, yet powerful tenet, we embrace the light in us for a higher purpose — a revelation beyond our humdrum existence. It leads us to something which we all think of, but not always connect to with adequate gusto. You’d call it the divine principle, or mysticism. You may also think of it as your own spiritual roadmap, or mindful awareness — one that provides each of us with the essence of reality, or truth, and signifies every living thing in our wide, happening world. It equates to a melodic cadence in the mind, body, and soul of every individual — provided we listen to its serene rhythms in tranquillity, or solitude. It exemplifies our life’s experiential expedition, or transcendental extent of our being too — in other words, the glorious eternal effulgence of our spiritual dimension, or experience.